Withdrawn / Did Not Qualify

Well, Charlie Grapski did not qualify for State House. In a letter to supporters, Mr. Grapski stated that it was a difficult decision, as he believed that he could have won the race. His letter was filled with lofty platitutdes of taking back local government, town by town, starting with Alachua.

In one statement, Mr. Grapski says that he aims to, ". . . begin restablishing the rule of law and real democratic government BY THE PEOPLE." I would suggest that Mr. Grapski start by filing his overdue campaign finance report. By law, candidates are required to file campaign finance reports by a due date. Mr. Grapski's last campaign finance report was due on July 10th. To this day, it remains unfiled.

Mr. Grapski could then continue his efforts by correcting his previous campaign report to show his contributions. His January 1st to March 31st campaign finance report shows expenditures and no contributions. That is certainly not abnormal, in and of itself, except that it was Mr. Grapski's first campaign report. It would seem that Mr. Grapski is claiming to have spent money before he had it.

The fact is that both his incomplete Q1 report and his non-existent Q2 report put Mr. Grapski in violation of Florida Statutes 106.07. While Mr. Grapski is beating his chest about clean and honest elections, he has committed serious violations of state law, as a candidate.

Mr. Grapski, come clean. Fix your report and file the missing one. Indeed, you will still have other reports to file. As it is now known that you are incapable of adhereing to campaign finance laws, we would like to see you open your campaign account for inspection and reconciliation with your reports.

Mr. Grapski's letter to his supporters is as follows:



Friday, July 21, 2006
A message from Charlie
Hello friends

I have decided this morning to NOT qualify for the 2006 general election for the Florida House. This was a difficult decision - as I believe I could have won this race and played a significant role in bringing change to our political system from the level of the State of Florida.

With the legal battles ongoing I have had to neglect my campaign to instead redirect efforts into the fight for the rights of the residents of one city in my district.

I believe that, at this time, the best use of my talents and those of others who support me is to focus them inward - prove we can indeed take back our government for the people in one city - while at the same time building a true grassroots movement in the counties of North Central Florida in preparation for the 2008 election cycle.

This will enable us to refocus these efforts over a two-year period of organization and development so that we can be even more effective in our struggle.

I hope to build the Alachua Project in two directions: 1) Recruiting national support for a grassroots effort to take back one town - and prove we can do it; 2) Expanding this to taking back the local level of government town-by-town across Florida and across the nation - thus turning it into the Democracy Project.

I believe that if we can direct 10% of the national grassroots movement into a focused local reform effort - we can level the playing field and we can begin re-establishing the true rule of law and real democratic government BY THE PEOPLE. With our collective knowledge, energy, resources, etc. we can take back America one town at a time.

I believe, furthermore, that with two years of organization and mobilization through such a project we can lay the foundations for a truly independent grassroots wave of empowered citizens who will be the primary, rather than secondary, forces in the 2008 election cycle nationwide.

I will announce my plans for the next two years in the upcoming days. I apologize to all of you who have done so much to support me and I hope that I have not let you down. This is a very hard decision - but I believe that in the long-run it will prove to be for the best.

This is not about me alone - but about all of us - and I am committed to do any and everything in my power for the next two years to accomplish our goals and objectives. This is about all of us - as a community.

I will need your support in these endeavors - and hope that I can call on you for assistance in these efforts.

Feel free to call or email me to let me know your feelings on this and if you have any ideas or suggestions.

Again, I apologize to all who have done so much to assist me in this effort to date. Its people like you that have given me the ground upon which to remain optimistic that WE, together, can fight this very important battle - and it is a struggle that will not be won overnight - and bring it to a victory within the next few years.


Posted by SJ